canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/academictorrents.com/academic-torrents # Academic Torrents API Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Academic Torrents API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Academic Torrents is a community-maintained distributed repository for sharing large research datasets over BitTorrent, and its v2 API exposes operations for creating, retrieving, and modifying torrent entries and managing named collections of torrents. Authentication uses session-style credentials passed as cookies (uid, pass) or query parameters, and the API is hosted at academictorrents.com/apiv2. It is intended for researchers, archive maintainers, and dataset publishers who want to programmatically register, group, and manage torrents. ## For AI agents Programmatically register research dataset torrents on Academic Torrents and group them into named collections so agents can publish, retrieve, and curate distributed datasets without scraping the web UI. ## Scope Does not handle file hosting, peer connections, or dataset search ranking - use for catalog registration and collection management on Academic Torrents only. ## Capabilities - Register a new torrent entry on Academic Torrents using its infoHash and metadata - Retrieve metadata for a specific torrent by infoHash, including title, description, and tags - Modify an existing torrent entry's title, description, or category fields - Create a named collection to group related research dataset torrents together - Add or remove torrents from a collection by infoHash - Delete a collection that is no longer needed for a research project ## Use cases ### Publishing Research Dataset Torrents Researchers and archive maintainers register new BitTorrent entries on Academic Torrents directly from a publication or release pipeline. The API accepts the infoHash plus title, description, and tag metadata at POST /entry, allowing automated registration when a new dataset is seeded. This avoids the manual web upload step and keeps catalog entries consistent across multiple datasets released for the same paper. Example prompt: Call POST /entry with the infoHash of a newly seeded ImageNet variant, a descriptive title, and tags so it appears in the Academic Torrents catalog ### Curating Dataset Collections by Research Topic Curators assemble named collections of related dataset torrents for a research domain such as natural language processing or genomics. POST /collection creates the collection, and POST /collection/{collectionName}/add and /remove manage membership over time. Curators use this to maintain reading-list-style bundles that researchers can subscribe to and download in one batch. Example prompt: Create a collection named 'nlp-benchmarks-2026' and add three benchmark dataset torrents to it by infoHash ### Maintaining Catalog Metadata for Existing Datasets Dataset maintainers correct or expand metadata on entries that were registered earlier - for example, fixing a license tag or extending a description with citation information. POST /entry/{infoHash} updates fields on an existing entry without re-uploading the data, since the underlying torrent is unchanged. This keeps the public catalog accurate as documentation evolves. Example prompt: Update the description on an existing Academic Torrents entry to add a DOI citation for the underlying paper ### Agent-Driven Dataset Discovery and Registration An AI research assistant working through Jentic uses the Academic Torrents API to register newly produced datasets and to look up entries referenced in literature. The agent searches Jentic for the right operation, loads the input schema, and submits an entry without the developer wiring up cookie-based authentication by hand. Credentials live in your Jentic One instance and are scoped per execution. Example prompt: Through Jentic, search 'register a research dataset torrent', load the POST /entry schema, and create the entry for a freshly seeded dataset ## Key endpoints | Method | Path | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | POST | /entry | Register a new torrent entry | | GET | /entry/{infoHash} | Retrieve a torrent entry by infoHash | | POST | /entry/{infoHash} | Modify an existing torrent entry | | POST | /collection | Create a new collection | | POST | /collection/{collectionName}/add | Add a torrent to a collection | | POST | /collection/{collectionName}/remove | Remove a torrent from a collection | | POST | /collection/{collectionName}/delete | Delete a collection | ## Key resources - **Entries** — Create, retrieve, and modify individual torrent entries in the Academic Torrents catalog - **Collections** — Create named collections and add or remove torrent entries to organize related datasets - **Testing** — Test endpoints for verifying authentication and basic API connectivity ## Why Jentic - **Setup:** Wiring the Academic Torrents API by hand means passing uid and pass cookie credentials on every request and tracking info-hash and collection-name values across calls yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Academic Torrents API from the API Directory, store the uid and pass once, and your agent calls it. - **Permission scoping:** Academic Torrents puts the collection name in the URL path (/collection/{collectionName}/...), so a rule can pin your agent to one collection: it can add entries to that collection and nothing else. You choose the operations it may call, so collection deletion or entry removal is not included unless you add it. - **Credential handling:** Your Academic Torrents uid and pass are stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. They never enter the agent's prompt, logs, or context. - **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'register a research dataset torrent', and Jentic returns the matching Academic Torrents operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs. ## Related APIs - **Internet Archive Wayback Machine API** — Internet Archive's API for capturing and retrieving archived web content alongside dataset distribution. - **DataCite REST API** — Mint DOIs for research datasets that are then distributed via Academic Torrents. - **Figshare API** — Hosted research data repository alternative to BitTorrent-based distribution. ## FAQ ### Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Academic Torrents API? Academic Torrents does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call Academic Torrents API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started with Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer. ### What authentication does the Academic Torrents API use? The API uses session-style API key authentication, passed either as cookies (uid and pass) on each request or as a uid query parameter. Through Jentic, these credentials are stored encrypted in the vault and injected at execution time so the values never enter agent context. ### Can I create and manage collections of torrents with the Academic Torrents API? Yes. POST /collection creates a named collection, POST /collection/{collectionName}/add and /remove manage membership by infoHash, and POST /collection/{collectionName}/delete removes the collection itself. There is no requirement that all torrents in a collection be authored by the same uploader. ### What are the rate limits for the Academic Torrents API? The OpenAPI spec does not document explicit rate limits. Academic Torrents is community-run, so treat it as best-effort and back off on HTTP errors. For automated registration of many entries, throttle to a few requests per second and retry on 5xx responses. ### How do I register a new dataset torrent through Jentic? Run pip install jentic, then search for 'register a research dataset torrent'. Jentic returns the POST /entry operation, and you load its input schema, supply the infoHash and metadata, and execute. The whole flow is three async calls - search, load, execute - and avoids hand-coding cookie auth. ### Is the Academic Torrents API free to use? Yes. Academic Torrents is a community-maintained free repository for research data, and the API does not charge for entry registration or collection management. You only need a registered account to obtain the uid/pass credentials used for authentication. ### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Academic Torrents API? Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Academic Torrents operations and credentials the agent may use. Since the collection name sits in the URL path (/collection/{collectionName}/...), a rule can pin the agent to a single collection so it can only add entries there. You can allow just POST /entry and the collection add operation while withholding entry modification, collection removal, and collection deletion, and the uid and pass credentials are supplied only for the calls you permit.